Board hears calls for Johnson's resignation; embattled trustee absent

Members of the public called for Northern Humboldt Union High School District Trustee Dan Johnson's resignation at a special meeting this morning, but Johnson was not there to hear them.

Johnson came under fire after his commencement speech at Arcata High School's graduation ceremony last month drew sharp criticism and plagiarism accusations from students and members of the community who were in attendance. About a dozen people addressed the board on the issue this morning. All were critical of Johnson, and about half called for his resignation.

"(Mr. Johnson) is a great community member but he blew it on this one and now he needs to pay the piper, and the only way to do that is by resigning," said Brian Lovell.

According to reports in the Arcata Eye, Johnson called his daughter -- a member of Arcata High School's Class of 2013 -- up to the podium during his June 13 speech and said he was going to read a "personal letter" he'd written her. Large portions of the letter, according to the Eye's reporting, appeared to have been taken from a commencement speech David McCullough gave in 2012 at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts.

McCullough's speech, titled "You are not Special," was widely publicized and a video of it went viral on the Internet, with one version drawing more than two million views on YouTube.

In a statement issued Thursday -- his first public comment on the issue -- Johnson apologized, saying he was inspired after hearing McCullough's speech on the radio and that the speech "gave him ideas" for the address he delivered at graduation. Johnson said his speech was a "personalized version of McCullough's message," but he apologized for not crediting McCullough "for his words."

Some who addressed the board Friday said they took offense to the last paragraph of Johnson's statement, which chided "the self-appointed referees of good and evil" for whom "no explanation or apology I can offer is good enough."

"But," Johnson concludes in the statement, "I'm comfortable in the knowledge that their intolerance, so readily on display, is a far more profound flaw than mine."

Addressing the board, Lovell said he is, in fact, intolerant of academic plagiarism.

"Yes, I am intolerant in that way," Lovell said, adding that Johnson broke the public's trust and should resign from the board.

Johnson was not in attendance Friday but board President Mike Pigg said Johnson had said weeks ago that he would not be able to attend a meeting set for today -- long before the commencement controversy was placed on the agenda. Pigg said he's confident Johnson was not trying to "dodge a bullet" by being absent.

In a letter to the board read by Pigg during the meeting, Johnson apologized for putting his fellow trustees in an "awkward position" and for his delay in addressing the issue -- a delay he said was due to the matter catching him by surprise and his dealing with some "family issues." Johnson said in the letter that he intends to read the statement for the public when he is next in attendance at a board meeting, which he said will probably be in September.

After today's meeting, Pigg said it would have been ideal for Johnson to be present for the discussion but that he felt the issue had gone unaddressed for too long as the board waited for Johnson's statement. Pigg said he didn't want to further delay the meeting to a date when Johnson could be in attendance.

Prior to the public comment period, each of the trustees in attendance addressed the issue, with most saying they accepted Johnson's apology and hoped to move on from the issue.

"He made a mistake -- we all make mistakes -- and he apologized for that mistake, and I hope we can all move on," Trustee Dan Collen said.

Trustee Colleen Toste was the only board member to specifically address public calls for Johnson's resignation, noting that the board has no legal power to do anything to force Johnson from office. She also pointed to the start of school in less than a month.

"We have 1,700 kids that need us to focus on them," Toste said.

Many of those who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting said they believed Johnson's statement was a late and insufficient apology and that further action was needed.

Harriet Watson, who said she had two daughters in the audience the day of Johnson's speech, told the board she views Johnson's actions as a "serious breach of ethics" and that she doesn't think he should continue to serve on the board. Other speakers said Johnson's actions -- and a perceived lack of consequences for them -- set a poor example for students.

Shea Lignitz, a member of Arcata High School's Class of 2013, said she doesn't feel Johnson is suitable for the board of trustees. Aside from the plagiarism issue, Lignitz questioned Johnson's decision to single out his daughter during a speech that was supposed to be honoring the entire graduating class.

"As Mr. Johnson pointed out, none of us are special, so why is he?" she asked, adding that she didn't believe his apology was sincere. "If his apology was really heartfelt, I don't think he would have attacked his critics."

Superintendent Chris Hartley thanked everyone attending the meeting for the thoughtful discussion and said the next step forward might be for the board to consider adding something regarding plagiarism into the its bylaws and to review graduation formats to clearly outline expectations of commencement addresses.

"This presents an opportunity for us to have those discussions," he said.

The board did not report any final actions out of a closed session, in which they conferred with labor negotiators and discussed the discipline or dismissal of a public employee. District officials said the item was not related to Johnson, who is not an employee.